Source Verification: Aeneas
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
What is Aeneas famous for?
Aeneas is famous for surviving the fall of Troy and, in Roman tradition, for leading its survivors to Italy. In Homer's Iliad he is one of the strongest Trojans, rescued first by Aphrodite and Apollo and then by Poseidon, who foretells that his line will rule the Trojans. Later writers add the image he is best known by: carrying his old father Anchises out of the burning city. Virgil's Aeneid then makes him the ancestor of Rome.
Source: Homer, Iliad 20.293-308
Who were Aeneas' parents?
His mother was the goddess Aphrodite, Venus to the Romans, and his father was Anchises, a Trojan prince of the royal house. The Iliad says Aphrodite conceived him while Anchises was tending cattle on Mount Ida. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite tells the full story. After lying with Anchises, the goddess promises him a son who will reign among the Trojans. She warns him never to reveal that she is the mother, on pain of Zeus's thunderbolt.
Source: Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 192-199
Why was Aeneas important to the Romans?
The Romans traced their origins through him. Livy says Aeneas founded Lavinium and united Trojans and natives under the name of Latins, and that his son Ascanius founded Alba Longa. In Virgil's Aeneid, Jupiter promises Venus a line running from Aeneas through Alba Longa to Romulus and an empire without end. Jupiter also names Julius Caesar as a descendant of Iulus, Aeneas's son. That gave the Julian family a claim to descent from Venus herself.
Source: Virgil, Aeneid 1.257-296
What did Aeneas do after the Trojan War?
He fled Troy and wandered before settling in Italy, but the sources give different routes. Livy takes him through Macedonia and Sicily to the Laurentine coast, where he marries King Latinus's daughter and founds Lavinium. Ovid has him stop at Delos, where King Anius receives him. Virgil sends him to Carthage and Queen Dido, then down to the underworld, and finally to war in Latium against Turnus. All agree that he ended his days in Italy.
Source: Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.1
Was Aeneas the founder of Rome?
No. The ancient sources make him the ancestor of the Romans, not the founder of the city. Livy says Aeneas founded Lavinium, named after his wife, and that his son Ascanius later founded Alba Longa. In Virgil's Aeneid, Jupiter foretells three centuries of rule from Alba Longa before Romulus, nursed by the wolf, founds Rome and gives it his name. Aeneas himself is promised a war in Italy, a city wall and three summers of rule in Latium.
Source: Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.3
Whom did Aeneas marry?
Aeneas had two wives. At Troy he was married to Creusa, who in Virgil's Aeneid falls behind in the dark as the family escapes the burning city and is lost. In Italy he married Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus. Livy says he named his new town Lavinium after her. Turnus, king of the Rutulians, had been promised Lavinia first and went to war over her. Dido, queen of Carthage, called their union a marriage, but Aeneas denies in the Aeneid that he ever made her a marriage vow.
Source: Virgil, Aeneid 2.735-795
Where Accounts Differ
- why the Greeks let Aeneas escape
- where the prophecy of his rule points
- how Aeneas met Latinus
- which Ascanius was Iulus
- death or deification of Aeneas
- Why Aeneas survived the sack differs by source. Apollodorus (Epitome 5.21) says the Greeks let him go because of his piety as he carried Anchises. Livy (1.1) says the Greeks spared Aeneas and Antenor for old ties of hospitality and because both had urged peace and the return of Helen. Virgil (Aeneid 2) has him flee through the burning city on Hector's ghostly warning, with no Greek consent at all.
- The prophecy of his rule differs in scope. Poseidon in the Iliad (20.293-308) and Aphrodite in the Homeric Hymn (192-199) promise only that he and his descendants will reign among the Trojans. The move to Italy, Lavinium and Rome comes from Virgil and Livy.
- Livy (1.1) gives two versions of how Aeneas met Latinus: a defeat in battle followed by peace, or a pact of friendship offered before any fighting.
- The identity of Ascanius is disputed. Virgil (Aeneid 1.257-296) makes Ascanius the Trojan-born Iulus, ancestor of the Julian family. Livy (1.1, 1.3) has Lavinia bear a son named Ascanius in Italy and declines to say whether the Iulus claimed by the Julii was that son or an older one born to Creusa.
- His end is told differently. Livy (1.2) says his last battle was his last mortal act and that he is worshipped at the Numicius as Jupiter Indiges. Ovid (Metamorphoses 14.581-608) describes Venus making him a god after the Numicius washes away his mortal parts. Virgil's Jupiter (Aeneid 1.257-296) promises he will be borne up to the stars and gives him three summers of rule in Latium.
- The death of Turnus is cited to Aeneid Book 12 without a line range because the Perseus passage service returned server errors for ranges running to the end of the book; the scene was read at the passage beginning 12.919.
Sources
- Homer, Iliad 2.819-823
- Homer, Iliad 5.297-318
- Homer, Iliad 5.431-453
- Homer, Iliad 6.75-79
- Homer, Iliad 13.459-461
- Homer, Iliad 20.178-241
- Homer, Iliad 20.293-308
- Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 192-199
- Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 256-290
- Hesiod, Theogony 1008-1010
- Apollodorus, Library 3.12.2
- Apollodorus, Epitome 5.21
- Virgil, Aeneid 1.1-33
- Virgil, Aeneid 1.257-296
- Virgil, Aeneid 2.268-297
- Virgil, Aeneid 2.707-729
- Virgil, Aeneid 2.735-795
- Virgil, Aeneid 4.160-172
- Virgil, Aeneid 4.333-361
- Virgil, Aeneid 6.450-476
- Virgil, Aeneid 6.679-702
- Virgil, Aeneid, Book 12
- Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.1
- Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.2
- Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.3
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.623-631
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.581-608
- Virgil, Aeneid 6.69-74